


Return of Hyrule: Act One

by Mysterious_Prophetess



Series: Return of Hyrule [5]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Fusion World, Hylian! Al, Hylian! Alexander Louis Armstrong, Hylian! Armstrong Family, Hylian! Ed, Hylian! Pinako, Hylian! Riza Hawkeye, Hylian! Winry, Infrequent Swearing (This is Ed after all)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-03-25 21:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13843686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysterious_Prophetess/pseuds/Mysterious_Prophetess
Summary: The Promised Day has come and gone, the Elrics brothers have both moved on. Yet, from the past, strange things awake. It is time for a Hero to face his fate.





	1. A Hylian?

**Author's Note:**

> **Summary for the Chapter:**

> After leaving Winry, Ed encounters Mustang and is given files on strange thing that have been happening all around Amestris ever since the Promised Day.

_East City Train Station, Amestris 1917_

   With an hour between trains, Ed had some time to kill at the Eastern Station while he waited. So, the former alchemist decided that lunch would be a good idea. There was a small cafe just to the side of the station which suited his needs perfectly. Even though Ed no longer needed to provide the energy and nourishment to keep Al’s body alive, the blond could still pack quite a bit away.

   “So, your manners improve only after you’ve left the military?” Ed looked up after he’d finished his meal to see Roy Mustang in his military blues standing over his table, “As did your sense of taste.”

   “What do you want, Mustang?” Ed asked.

   “I heard you were going West from Gracia and generously decided to give you a lead for your research,” Mustang said.

   “What’s the catch?” Ed demanded.

   “No catch. You’ve earned at least that much,” Mustang said sliding Ed a folder of papers, “Strictly speaking I shouldn’t even be telling you this.” Ed raised an eyebrow.

   “But?” 

   “You’re probably one of the only people who might be able to figure this out. After all, your specialty is chasing down things that are supposed to be mythical, and actually finding them,” Mustang replied.

   “What’s supposedly mythical in this case?” Ed said reaching a gloved hand for the folder and carefully sliding it towards himself.

   “What do you know about the country Amestris was before?” Mustang asked.

   “Not much. A few bedtime stories. Though, that’s what Al and I thought about Xerxes,” Ed said.

   “Strange things have been happening since the Promised Day. I want you to find out why,” Mustang said.

   “Should be interesting.” Ed picked up the folder and tucked it under his arm.

   “Officially speaking, we only discussed the fact you have recently proposed to your mechanic,” Mustang said.

   “ ** _How the hell did you know that!_** ”

   “I have my ways. Best of luck, Ed,” Mustang said as both stood.

   “Yeah, you too, Mustang,” Ed said. The blond walked away from Mustang at a sedate pace until he saw the time.

   _‘Shit!’_ He dashed the rest of the way to board his next train, the Hylian earning more than few stares in the process.

   “Mommy! Why does that man have pointy ears?”

   “It’s impolite to point, Maria!”

   “A Hylian? I thought most of their kind lived in Central?”

   “Hush, John, he can hear you! Their kind has better hearing than the average human!”

Ed ignored the whispers as he opened the folder Mustang had smuggled him.

 ———————————————————————————————————

_‘The Western Town of Kakaro was reporting strange occurrences within the forests outside their city limits. Alchemists passing through reported a strange energy interfering with their alchemy and they had theorized it was also behind some of the odd things happening. It was also believed a mad Alchemist hiding in the ruins of a nearby defunct temple could be the source of the energy and the other incidents.’_ Ed saw a note tucked into the pages from Mustang,

   ‘  _Full_ _–Edward, if an alchemist is the cause, you will call me_ **_immediately_ ** !’

   Ed snorted but skimmed the folder that held each incident report. 

_‘The sudden appearance of semi-sentient man-eating plants, strange glowing lights with lanterns, moving amorphous slimes,  land dwelling octopodes* that had mouths on their heads instead of underneath like a proper cephalopod, and mentions of other abnormal creatures.’_

    _‘This all sounds like a bunch of “chimera!”’_ The former alchemist set his face in a hard line as he flipped the folder shut and slipped it into his suitcase. He pulled out his new notebook and began to write down his notes, encoded as always. He even included a random recipe to throw off any would-be code cracker. It was actually the real recipe for his mother’s stew, but since most of those didn’t include vile bovine excretion, it would confuse anyone who read it and make them think it was an alchemical formula.

Ed snickered a little to himself at that thought and then pulled out a few sheafs of paper and began to write.

   ———————————————————————————————————

 “Dear Al,

   This is only the second time in our lives we’ve ever been apart. Feels pretty strange. I’ll be learning as much as I can over here, so you’d better learn all you can in the East!” Ed paused before he carefully coded the next part so that Al could understand it. It was a simpler cypher than his notes, but unless the one reading it was an Elric brother, they’d simply think Ed was telling Al about his travels so far. In reality the encoded message read as such,    

   “Mustang is worried about a few odd things happening out in the West. He’s asked me to look into it. If it’s an alchemist, I promise I’ll call for back up. So far, from the reports, it sounds like we missed a Philosopher’s stone.” Ed finished the letter with,

   “Stay safe in Xing. I’ll do my best to do the same here in Kakaro.

   -Ed”

   PS. She said “yes.”

 ———————————————————————————————————

   Ed filled out a couple of sheets with encoded summaries of the incidents Mustang had him investigating before he tucked it away into a small notebook buried at the base of his suitcase. To keep the letters to Al arriving at a regular basis, Ed planned on writing several over the course of a few days and then staggering mailing them.

  ———————————————————————————————————

   Ed stood at the station in Kaydar waiting on yet another train change. Originally, Ed had intended to keep heading south and west into Creta, but with this unofficial mission he’d been given, he now had to take a train that headed north and towards the western Drachman border instead.

 

   It was nearly half a day later whenever Ed arrived at the small, almost rundown station of Kakaro. The eighteen year old made sure he had everything before he disembarked. Ed walked down the small platform steps into the small mountain town. He could hear the whispers start again,

    _“Is that-?!”_

_“It’s a Hylian!”_

_“I thought they were extinct!”_

_“I thought Hylians had blue eyes like Amestirans do?”_

_“No. Hylians often have lots of different eye colors like humans do, but their ears are pointed.”_

_“Do you think it’s true that they can hear better than humans?”_ Ed wanted to growl out an answer of,

   ‘ ** _YES I CAN HEAR YOU_**!’

   But, after the first and only time he yelled about that as a child, he had learned to keep it in.  Perhaps _that_ was why he let himself go over the short rants, but now even those were a thing of the past as he  _finally_  had grown taller than Winry.

   Ed approached the only Inn of Kakaro. He walked through the doors to see the somewhat bored clerk perched on their stool staring off into space. Whenever the young man noticed Ed standing there he pinwheeled comically before he fell with a thump. _‘That looked like that hurt.’_

   “Sorry about that. Welcome to the Grand Kakaro Hotel. How long will you be staying with us Mister?”

   “Elric,” Ed said.

   “Elric. That name rings a ball. Do you have any family?”

   “Only my brother,” Ed said.

   “It’ll come to me eventually,” the young man said, “Name’s Talo. You’re our only guest in town, so you have your pick of the rooms.”

   “I just need something that doesn’t leak, has a nice bed in it, and no infestations,” Ed said.

   “Ok then I’ll give you room #3,” Talo said as he reached into a drawer and pulled out a key at random. Ed followed him down the hall and up the stairs to the first floor. It was the second door on the right. Ed took the key and opened the door to find a nice, if small, room with a bed and a view of the forest. Considering Ed had slept outside before, he could officially say he had stayed in worse.

   “Now, it’s about 40 Cenz a night. Do you know how long you’ll be here?” Talo said.

   “Probably at most a week,” Ed said setting his suitcase on the bed. He opened it up and carefully dug through it, placing his auto mail maintenance kit on the nightstand before pulling out his wallet. He counted out the proper bills and handed Talo 160 Cenz.

   “That enough for four days?” Ed said.

   “Yes,” Talo said before he snapped the fingers of his free hand.

   “I’ve got it! You’re one of the Elric Brothers, aren’t you? You know, the famous alchemists? Though, the rumors never said either of them was Hylian…”

   “I’m Edward Elric,” Ed said.

   “ _The Fullmetal Alchemist_! Can you show me some alchemy?” Talo said.

   “Sorry, I don’t do that anymore,” Ed replied.

   “What brings you to Kakaro, then?” Talo said.

   “Rumors of strange energy and things,” Ed said, “Those rumors wouldn’t happen to be true, would they?”

   “I couldn’t tell you if every rumor was true, but I’ve seen a few things. Though, I have to say, a Hylian appearing after strange things have been plaguing our town is definitely the oddest thing.”

   “How so?” Ed asked.

   “What do you mean “how so?” Surely you’ve heard the stories?” Talo said. Ed shook his head.

   “The only Hylians I knew growing up were my brother, my fiancée , her parents, her grandmother and my mother. None of them sat around telling us “stories” that involved Hylians arriving in towns after weird things have happened,” Ed replied.

   “Oh, I guess that was slightly racist. Sorry. Well, the legends go that whenever Hyrule needs him, a Hylian will hear the call of the gods and put an end to the strife,” Talo said.

   “You’re telling me that people are that worked up over a few bedtime stories?” Ed asked.

   “They’re not bedtime stories to us, Mr. Elric,” Talo said. Ed nodded before he walked out past Talo. He stopped.

   “Sometimes there are legends that are real, but you’ll wish you hadn’t found them,” Ed said

    ———————————————————————————————————

   Ed walked down the streets and listened, for once glad he had enhanced hearing via Hylian genetics.

_“Old Man Georgi’s cows were massacred by those plants!”_

_“I’m telling you, it wasn’t me who killed your mangey mutt! It was a ball of floating light!”_

_“Liar! You were always getting after me because he kept bothering your chickens!”_

_“Did anyone else see that the old Temple was glowing the other night!”_

_“No, really?!”_

_“Is that-It is! A Hylian! A real live Hylian!”_

_“Blessed Goddesses! You’re right for once!”_

    _‘So much for that,’_ Ed thought before he approached what appeared to be the hub of the town, a small bazaar. The stalls were set up hocking wares that were clearly geared towards life in the small town: lanterns, replacement wicks and oil, hoes, rakes, plows, scythes, cloth, some had prepared foods, and most of the others were produce. Ed’s eyes were drawn over to a booth manned by what Ed thought had to be a Chimera.

    The one behind the booth had leathery yellow skin with rock like patches on their elbows, knees, and crown of their head. The eyes were rounder than a normal humans, and nearly avian and colored a dark blue that was almost violet.

   “Goro-Goro! A Hylian!” the creature said.

   “What kind of Chimera are you?” Ed asked as he examined the creature.

   “Chimera, goro? I am not a _Chimera_ , goro! I am Arun. I am a Goron! The three goddesses made me like this surely as they made you a Hylian!” the “goron” (Arun) said. The species name actually was familiar to Ed.

   “Goron, huh? I thought Gorons went extinct as a race about two hundred years ago?” Ed said.

   “It was a close call, goro. We lost our mountain, goro, and now we live here,” Arun said. Ed heard a shuffling sound and turned to see what appeared to be a more rock-like goron shuffling out from another stand. This one had white hair on its (his) head pulled into a topknot and a long beard that dragged on the ground as the hunched over form creakily made his way towards Ed. It began to speak in a strange language rapidly and he seemed to be pointing at Ed quite a bit.

   “I take it, he’s also surprised by a Hylian being here?” Ed drawled to another nearby Goron.

   “More than that, goro, he’s mistaken you for-I’m sorry, that was rude, goro,” the Goron said before another goron smacked him along side the head and stopped him mid phrase. Ed raised an eyebrow before he turned to continue walking.

   “What brings you to Kakaro, stranger?” Ed turned back to see Arun had calmed down the elder and the elder was now speaking Amestrian.

   “I’ve heard some things and wanted to see if they were true,” Ed said.

   “Goro, Strange energy has been emanating from the Forest Temple and it has brought back the monsters of the past,” the elder said.

   “So, that old temple is the source, huh? Thanks,” Ed said.

   “I am called Darun. What are you called?” the Elder (Darun) said.

   “Edward Elric,” Ed said, “But you can call me Ed.”

   “If you seek to go to the Forest temple, goro, it’s too dangerous for someone on their own,” Darun said, “I ask that you use this, goro.” Darun unsheathed a sword and handed it to Ed. It was a double-edged bastard sword with a simple cross guard and a plain rounded pommel. Though used to spears or the transmuted short blade of his formerly auto mail limb, Ed carefully gave the sword a practice swing. It felt nice. Well balanced. Ed couldn’t have transmuted something better.

   “How much for the blade?” Ed said.

   “Make it back alive and we’ll discuss price, goro,” the Goron said handing Ed the sheath and the sword belt. Ed buckled it on and let the sheath hang across his back so his right hand could reach it easily. With that he guided the sword into the scabbard. Ed looked back at the Gorons.

   “One last thing: where is this temple?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lovely artwork was commissioned by me from the _**EXTREMELY**_ talented "Lights in the Skye." She has a tumblr. Check her out! [ x](http://lightsintheskye.tumblr.com/)
> 
> I did the time honored Zelda tradition of giving characters names similar to past characters, because why not?  
> Plus, I had to slip in the “It’s not safe to go alone line.”  
> *The proper plural of “Octopus” is not “Octopi” it is, in fact either “Octopuses” or “Octopodes.”  
> On another note, my computer kept correcting “goron” to “boron” and “goro” to “toro.”  
> About the type of sword I gave Ed: I gave him a hand-and-a-half sword (AKA bastard sword) based on the handle length I’d observed from the Master Sword. The Zelda wiki called it an arming sword; I respectfully disagree because of hilt length. Plus, Ed’s favorite insult? I couldn’t pass that up.  
> Final note: Males are blond, females are blonde. Fiancé-male, Fiancée- female. This is due to these words being French in origin and, therefore, still falling under their gender rules of adding an “e” to adjectives or words for the “Feminine” form.
> 
> See you all Next Month!


	2.  Chapter 2: Enter the Darkness.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Ed begins to explore the temple mentioned in all the rumors, things just get stranger the farther into this "dungeon" he dives. What kind of crazy mess did Mustang just get him into?

   “How much farther in is this temple?” Ed said as he followed his guide: a young goron called Lin.

   “Not much farther, goro-goro!” Lin said. Ed stumbled through another set of brush and found himself in a clearing. The tree canopy opened up to the now red sky and the sun was setting behind a tall wood and stone structure. There were vines and moss clinging to the stone as nature seemed to be attempting to reclaim the land and the temple. On the ground in front of the ornate doorway was a tiled patio which had a triangle symbol on it. An upright golden triangle had an inverted black triangle inside of it trisecting it into three golden triangles.

   “Do you know what this symbol is called?” Ed said.

   “Goro-goro! That’s the triforce! Symbol of the Golden Goddesses, goro!” Lin said. Ed pulled a small notebook out of his pocket and wrote a few things down as well as observations about where he found himself.

   “Well, this is where I go on alone, I suppose. Unless you’d want to come with-me.” Ed turned to see the goron was long gone, “Geeze, I can tell you’re really torn up about not accompanying me.” Ed walked right up to the door and searched for a mechanism to open it. He found a lever cleverly hidden inside a moss-covered stone statue of a little girl.  Funnily enough, the moss seemed like it was purposefully grown on her with how it covered the statue: moss grew on her hair and dress but no where else.

 

   Ed stepped into the foreboding building and shivered: he could FEEL something was in there. Ed made a couple notes before he looked around the main room. He got a feeling of deja vu as he looked at the three doors arranged on the wall ahead of him. One was locked, two were not. Ed pulled out a lock pick (now that he was down his alchemy, he had to have a way to get in and out of places in a tight spot), and approached the lock. He carefully went to to work on the lock and it took nearly ten minutes until it clicked open. Ed tucked the pick in his jacket and pulled the lock and chains off the door, only to jump back whenever a set of bars slammed down, the distinct click of a lock was heard and Ed saw there was a lock on this obstacle too.

   “Geesh! I get it, I have to find the stupid key!” Ed said dusting himself off. He studied the other two doors. The door to the left of the room had a more worn track than the door to the right.

    _‘Either that means this is the correct one or people have gone forward and back a lot of times with it,’_ Ed thought. Ed decided to go for the door on the right, figuring a place that was a puzzle likely had people going in the wrong door more often than the right one. As soon as he entered the door he had to dodge the snapping jaws of a plant?!?! Ed draw the sword and stood back from the snapping reach of the killer plant.

    _‘Deku Babas, the reports called them. What kind of twisted person makes a man eating plant?’_ Ed thought as he analyzed the monster flora’s pattern of movement before he rolled past it’s mouth and slashed its stem like body destroying it instantly, because even though the head seemed tough, the body was still stem like. After Ed defeated the deku baba, it exploded into strange smoke.

   “What the hell?!?” Left behind was the shredded remains of a much smaller plant. Ed poked it with the tip of his sword before he sheathed the weapon. Ed made a few notes and slammed his notebook shut with a growl.

    _‘This thing bypassed the laws-DAMNIT! It’s gotta be a stone used, meaning there’s an alchemist involved!’_ Ed thought as he shoved his notebook back into his jacket pocket. He barely heard the second deku baba move in time. He rolled forwards and drew the sword slashing its stem off in one move. Ed stopped and blinked. The third one was more easily dealt with. After all, whenever someone gets used to fighting homunculi, garden variety monsters were a step down, so to speak. Ed checked around for anymore and found there were none, but one of them didn’t revert to a smaller plant, instead it dried out  after the plume of strange smoke. Ed prodded the head with his sword and it split apart to reveal a set of seeds. Ed grabbed one but it slipped from his hands and EXPLODED. Ed shook his head to clear the after effect of the organic flash bang.

    _‘Could have used these against Pride,’_ Ed thought as he, carefully slipped a couple into his coat pockets for further study.

 

    _Central Command, Office of Brigadier General Roy Mustang,_

   Mustang, under the watchful eye of Hawkeye, worked his way through his paperwork. He’d expected Ed’s call to come hours ago yelling at him for giving him a wild goose chase like he used to or anything to let him know Ed was alright.

   “Sir, if you’re that worried about Edward, maybe you should just call him,” Hawkeye said. Mustang looked up to find his Hylian captain staring at him.

   “Fine,” he said before he picked up his phone, “Connect me to Kakaro Village.”

   “Kakaro Sheriff station, Sheriff Malona speaking.”

   “This is Brigadier General Mustang at Central, I’m following up the reports that your superiors passed along to Western Command who then passed it along to us,” Mustang said.

   “Oh, thank you sir! We have another report to add. We were going to send out a telegram but this is much better. Sir, a Hylian actually appeared! Just like the old stories always said!”

   “This Hylian wouldn’t happen to have blond hair and gold eyes, would he?” Mustang said.

   “Yes, actually. Did you send him?”

   “He was already headed west on a quest for knowledge and I may have mentioned your town was interesting,” Mustang said.

   “Last report had him heading into the temple, but that was hours ago.”

   “You are to call Central with any news concerning him immediately, do you understand?” Mustang said.

   “Yes, sir. Is he that important?”

 

   Forest Temple

   “DAMNIT!” Ed said dodging another gout of flame breath from the freaking lizard chimera thing he was fighting. It was proving harder to take down than the plants had been. It didn’t speak or even seem to have been spliced with human, but Ed couldn’t rule it out. Ed blocked another stream of fire with his sword and managed to dodge past the thing’s gauntleted fist and land a slash with his sword on it’s back sending it forward onto the ground. Ed landed another blow to its back with his foot sending it flying across the small room where it slammed into a wall and exploded into a plume of black smoke leaving behind a dead lizard.

    Ed made it to a final chamber of the string of doors he’d started with a chest sitting in the center. He inspected it to find it wasn’t sealed by a lock. Ed flung it up and jumped back, half expecting a trap. Instead, there was a shield sitting nestled in the chest. The metal looked pristine, and the shield looked only slightly worn. Ed studied the crest. He knew he’d seen it before but he was having trouble placing it. What stood out to him was the triforce was featured on this shield. On a whim, he slung it on his left arm and it fit perfectly. There was even a notch for it to attach to the scabbard.

 

   “Damn, no key.” Ed said before he walked out of the room and made his way back to the main room and entered the door to the left. In it there was a chest on a pedestal in a small alcove. In the middle of the room was a skeleton in pieces with armor and two swords in the mix. Ed shrugged as he walked towards the chest. A cage slammed down and the skeleton began to tremble. Ed drew his sword as the bones reassembled into a skeletal warrior wielding two blades, red glowing eyes staring at him.

 

   “What sick bastard bound a soul to a skeleton!” Ed yelled. The skeleton made no response and began to attack Ed. He barely blocked with the shield, not used to having one. It landed a blow on his left leg, but the front guard plate deflected most of it and there was only cosmetic damage. The next his got Ed on his right shoulder. Before it could land a third hit, Ed managed to knock one blade free from the skeleton, along with its arm. It continued forcing Ed to block until he could attack and it lost its other arm.    

   “Give it up, you’ve lost!” Ed said. The skeleton screamed at him, a sound that made Ed’s insides freeze before it charged him. Ed wasn’t aware he’d swung his sword until the skeleton was cleaved in two. It exploded in purple smoke as the cage receded. Ed peeled off his jacket and examined the wound. It wasn’t bad, but he’d need to get it seen to whenever he made it back to civilization. It had mostly stopped bleeding so Ed put his jacket back on and walked over to the chest he’d nearly died to get. In it was a key. Ed grabbed the key and stormed back through the chambers.

   “Can any sick person just have a normal lair? Is that too much to ask that I don’t have to go tromping through underground labyrinths or monster filled ruins?” Ed said as he jammed the key into the lock and opened the way to the room only to find three more doors ahead of him.

 

    This time the central door had a slightly different lock on it. It was almost shaped like a demon’s head. _'This reminds me of something....'_

The door on the left was locked up like the previous center door had been and the door on the right was unlocked. Ed went through the open door to find a room with moving platforms floating in some sort of murky liquid.

    It was only the training he’d received from Izumi that helped him dodge a round rocky projectile being spat at him by the weirdest damn octopus he’d ever seen. A second rock thing was blocked by the shield and it bounced right back at the thing causing it to poof away in a black smoke plume.

  _‘That black smoke has to be part of how these things are made into something else, but how?_ ’ Ed thought as he carefully hopped from platform to platform. He didn’t want to test his buoyancy with an artificial limb, even if it WAS the lighter kind. There was a door in front of him and he opened it to find a small room with two doors.

    _‘How does the nut who’s behind all this not get lost in his own hideout?’_ Ed wondered. He took the more worn door this time, and found a giant freaking spider hanging in front of him. It attacked him, forcing him to block with the shield while blindly stabbing at the creature. He heard a squeal and popping-whoosh he associated with these things exploding. Left behind was a squashed tarantula and nothing else. Ed kept an eye out for more as he went. Another one descended in front of him and he smashed it with the shield which made it flip and expose it’s soft belly just long enough for Ed to slash it. It exploded like the other but this one left nothing behind.

 

   Ed managed to find the next door: ten feet above the ground. There was a giant stone block nearby. So, Ed climbed up the block and calculated the distance and how far he’d need to run to get enough momentum whenever he jumped to reach the ladder. Otherwise, landing would definitely damage something. With that the former alchemist took off running across the top of the block and leapt into the air. He wheeled his arms forward whenever it looked like he wasn’t going to make it and BARELY grabbed onto the bottom rung.

    It was only whenever he was hanging from the ladder that he noticed groves in the ground: the block was movable. Ed climbed up to the doorway only to duck being dive bombed by some weird species of bat. Ed entered the next room and in the center was a chest. Ed drew his sword and approached cautiously, lest any other skeletons appear. He opened it to reveal the key to the other door. He groaned. This meant trying to drop back DOWN to get back to the previous chamber.  _Winry will kill me if I bust this leg._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny story, I almost forgot to update this. My apologies.
> 
> Yeah, I had to put in an “anti-lock pick ward.” Otherwise, Ed would have gotten through the temple WAY too easily.
> 
> **Lin the Goron** \- Was almost “Link the Goron.” But, since the Hero is “Ed,” I figured it would have been too weird calling the Goron “Link.”
> 
> **Brigadier General Roy Mustang** \- In the aftermath of the Promised Day, Roy was promoted.
> 
> **Captain  Riza Hawkeye** \- Riza was promoted too. I also made her a Hylian in this fusion piece because I thought it would be fitting.


	3. Chapter 3: What the-?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed has solved puzzles, and faced things that fly in the face of ethics (and alchemy as he knew it) and comes face to face with the one responsible.

   Ed managed to get back down the drop without a broken limb and back to the main area, after nearly falling in the murky water on his way back through and arrived in front of the smaller lock. He unlocked the door and walked through only to find the room was occupied by…..

   “What the Hell?” Ed said. In the center of the room was what appeared to be a middle-aged man with a mop of blond hair, heterochromia, wearing a flamboyant magenta cloak over a tight fitting white body suit with a black diamond motif along the edges and matching boots and gloves. The man looked over at Ed.

   “Oh, look at this! Variation at la~ast!” the man said sticking his tongue out. Ed shuddered before the face clicked.

   “Wait, aren’t you Ziggy Bowie the Moonstone Alchemist?” Ed said.

   “Well, this man might have been,” “Ziggy” said running a hand down his side, “But now this body is mi~ine! So tell me, boy, how DOES one get one of those Philosopher’s Stones that were so~o popular a century ago?”

   “Like I’m going to fall for that!” Ed said drawing the sword and slinging the shield onto his arm.

   “Oh, a fight!” “Ziggy” said snapping his fingers and a cutlass appeared in a flash of black diamonds despite the fact there was a larger sword strapped to his back, which Ed had only seen after the nut snapped his fingers while dramatically flaring his arm.

   ‘He has to be behind all the monsters,’ Ed thought as he adjusted his grip.

   “I promise I’ll go easy on you: wouldn’t want you dead too quickly,” “Ziggy” said. The freak charged and it was all Ed could do to block. It was worse than facing the Slicer Brothers. Ed managed to keep his feet as the freak rained blows down upon him. Ed caught most of them with his shield, he was getting better at using it. However Ed’s injured shoulder started to cause problems. Ed managed to score a hit to the weirdo’s belt buckle and the sword on “Ziggy’s” back slipped causing the weirdo to disengage.

 

   “No one has ever managed to hit a weak spot on ME for CENTURIES!” he said. Ed had to blink at the over the top delivery.

   “Did you flunk out of acting school or something?” Ed said.

   “I’ve wasted enough time with you, runt-.”

   “WHO’RE YOU CALLING TINIER THAN A DUST MOTE!” So, apparently, Ed hadn’t quite outgrown his short complex.

   “Oh, you’re fa~ar more colorful than my LAST opponent,” “Ziggy” said. His eyes flashed red. Ed narrowed his eyes

   “How long have you been possessing him,” Ed said.

   “Oh? A little over two years. He seemed to think I was some sort of experiment by the government,” “Ziggy” said.

   “What are you?” Ed said tightening the grip on his sword.

   “Hmm, No~ot tel~ling!” “Ziggy” said in a sing song voice. The freak snapped his fingers and teleported next to Ed forcing Ed to jump back and bring his sword up for an attack.  “Ziggy” prepared to attack again whenever he spotted something that made his eyes widen, “So it IS you!” he said. His flamboyant and almost playful manner evaporated. He was suddenly furious.

   “You stopped me once. I will not let you or that Cowardly White Goddess stop me again!” he said. Well, it was more like a roar. Ed  barely blocked the second sword, the one being unsheathed by “Ziggy’s” other hand  and had to bring up his sword to block the other blade. If ever a sword looked “Evil,” it was the one now in “Ziggy’s” left hand. It was so dark, it seemed to absorb the light around it. The blade on the pommel looked as red and as menacing as a philosopher’s stone.

   “What kind of stone is that?” Ed said in a calm voice as he blocked and parried “Ziggy’s” attacks.

   “O~h nothing too special. Mere decoration!” “Ziggy” said.

 

   Ed managed to half disarm “Ziggy” sending his cutlass flying out of his right hand and another hit to the belt buckle, which made the weirdo even angrier.  He landed a hit on Ed’s auto mail limb that made Ed wince at the screech of metal on metal. This made the freak pause just long enough for Ed to score a third hit to the buckle. The freak jumped back and glared.

   “You have made a mistake today, “Hero.” I will not be stopped in resurrecting my master!” he said.

   “You can try, but the dead stay dead!” Ed said.

   “We shall see, Hero,” “Ziggy” said before he vanished with a snap and flurry of floating diamonds. Ed kept his guard up for a few moments more until he sheathed his blade and decided to check out the damage to his leg. From what Ed could tell, after testing its range of motion, it was mostly ok. There was a worrying dent to the front grill, but it could still function. No where near as bad as the damage he’d done to his arm back when it was auto mail.

 

   Ed saw there was a chest in this room. He walked over and carefully opened it to reveal a very cool key! The bow of the key was shaped like a horned skull while the blade and teeth were normal. Just like the awesome key he and Al had found on that wild good chase Mustang had sent them on four years ago.

   ‘I wonder what’s in the room behind that lock?’ Ed thought, ‘One way to find out.’ Ed walked out of the room and straight to the central door. The strange key fit and the door opened. Ed could feel more of the strange energy.

   ‘What did that psycho leave down here?’ Ed wondered.

   Whatever the former alchemist was expecting, wasn’t what he found. There were bones of animals all over the ground in a strangely gloomy room, as well as a few decomposing animal carcasses.  Ed could hear a scuttling and looked up to see on of the biggest monsters he had ever encountered. It looked at him with a strange eye that was a cross between reptilian and human from a massive arachnid body three quarters the size of Envy’s true form. The only difference was Ed merely had a sword against this thing whereas he’d had alchemy against the homunculus. Ed didn’t get a chance to over think things because it flopped down with massive force and nearly knocked the hylian on his ass. Ed drew his weapon and mentally went over what he could tell from the abomination.

   ‘It’s a chimera of some sort augmented by whatever the thing that’s wearing “Ziggy’s” body is using, possibly part lizard and part a crap ton of spiders,’ Ed thought, ‘Has only one eye. If I blind it I can kill it or escape.’

   “Go for the eye!” a voice said. Ed rolled his.

   “I sort of already figured that out!”

   “Sorry for caring!” Ed located the voice and saw it was a kid caught up in a web. Ed barely dodged a swipe of the monster’s legs and he jumped and slashed at the eyeball, encountering some sort of filmy barrier.

   ‘The eyelid.’ Ed thought rolling away from a retaliatory strike. He jumped away from another swipe before he used the creature’s own legs to leap up onto the head and scored two or there more strikes to the protective lid on the eye before the creature bucked forcing Ed to jump down and dodge another swipe. He wasn’t completely successful because it nailed his right leg with a claw. Ed was limping but not out. He rolled out of the way of another blow only to roll right into a patch of spider-web. It reared up to crush him. Ed braced for impact,

   ‘It can’t end like this!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Ziggy Bowie** \- He’s a reference to David Bowie (taking the name of one of Bowie’s stage personas and mashing it with his other name). It was a joke my best friend and I had about how Ghirahim looked to our eyes whenever we played Skyward Sword; We kept calling him a David Bowie wannabe.
> 
>  **Why Ghirahim?** \- Well, truth is whenever I started this, I hadn’t settled on a troublemaker. I knew that Ed would run into them at the first temple, and alchemy would be slightly involved but magic would be the ultimate culprit.  
>     I bounced ideas with my best friend and she suggested I used a Zelda character instead of trying to raid the 2003 anime for someone (you should thank her! I almost tried to make Dante fit within the Brotherhood/manga timeline).  
>    At first, whenever she suggested Ghirahim, I initially dismissed it because, like Fi, he appeared to have been bound in sword form. So, I figured out a way, and so the poor Moonstone Alchemist became a body hijacking victim (as well as a fashion victim).  
>    Also, the Ghirahim and Ed interactions should prove entertaining in the future.  
>  **Queen Ghoma** \- I like using her as a monster because she’s a classic.


	4. Pull the Other One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding the possible culprit, Ed was left to face the resurrected Queen Gohma in the Forest Temple.  
> And that's only the start of the weird things he'd see that day.

   Ed felt something snap within and there was a whoosh! sound as heat joined it making the creature scream in pain. The flames had also freed Ed from the webbing. He avoided the monster-spider’s flailing and finished it off, stabbing it in the brain via the eyeball. Whatever had caused the flames had destroyed what was left of the protective film on the spider’s eye. It exploded in a HUGE plume of dark smoke leaving behind a burned spider and a glowing container.  Ed walked over to it and touched it. It glowed and suddenly Ed felt better. It lost its glow and just became a crystalline heart. Ed turned his attention to the kid in the webs.

   “Hold still,” Ed said whenever he reached them. Two slices later and the kid dropped to the floor. They stood and dusted themselves off.

   “Thanks for not letting me get eaten Mr. Hylian,” the kid said. Ed saw it was a little girl with short curly black hair and bright neon green eyes. She was dressed sort of like that one character he’d seen in a stage play about a place where kids never grew up and fought pirates.

   “I’m Petra!” she said.

   “Ed, not “Mr. Hylian.” How did you even end up down here?” Ed said.

   “I was looking for the other Kokiri and then that thing came out of nowhere!” she said. It was then that Ed saw the tip of her pointy ear sticking out of her mass of bouncy curls.

   “I thought the Kokiri were gone and bound to their forests,” Ed said.

   “Both not true!” she said.

   “Ok, so why would that thing try to eat you?” Ed said.

   “Not sure. But whenever that odd man resurrected Queen Ghoma with that spider, she must have thought I was tasty,” Petra said.

   “He’s behind the monsters?” Ed said.

   “Yep! He’s been using black magic to do it. Combining it with regular things to bring back the monsters killed off by the Deathless Things over the centuries,” Petra said.

   “Deathless Things?” Ed said.

   “Yeah, they all had this mark,” Petra said using  her finger to draw an Ouroboros in the dirt on the floor.

   “So, this guy is using something to bring back monsters that the Homunculi wiped out? Why?” Ed said.

   “I think he’s trying to bring back the Dark one, but he seems really weak, so we can probably stop him by going to wherever he’s been causing the most trouble,” Petra said.

   “What we?” Ed said as he went back to examining that strange crystalline heart.

   “Well, you seem to be dismissing magic as fake whenever you did some to save both our lives from Queen Ghoma,” Petra said.

   “That’s because magic, in my experience is just a form of science that we don’t understand,” Ed said.

   “You mean like alchemy?” Petra said.

   “Yeah,” Ed said.

   “So, you used alchemy?” Petra said.

   “Actually, no. I can’t use alchemy. I-wait, you’re saying I caused those flames?” Ed said.

   “I certainly didn’t! And there wasn’t anything flammable anywhere near where you and Queen Ghoma were,” Petra said.

 

   ‘It couldn’t have been alchemy, I don’t have a Gate, but magic is bullshit. Yet, how did I make those flames if it wasn’t alchemy?’

   “You know, if it was me, I’d just accept that it was magic!” Petra said.

   “I’m a scientist! I can’t go around accepting something so unscientific as magic,” Ed said. Petra shrugged.

   “Well, then how do I exist? I’m an immortal child who is actually about four hundred years old,” Petra said.

   “Four hundred?” Ed said.

   “Yep. I saw the Deathless Things arrive and destroy Hyrule,” Petra said, “We barely saved the Great Deku tree from their purging. Oh! I could take you to see him! He’d know how to explain this better than me.”

   “Fine,” Ed said. Someone who believed they were four hundred years old and also believed in a talking tree couldn’t be too dangerous. Ed picked up the crystal heart, and took it with him as he followed Petra out a set of secret passages that brought them right back to the main entrance with little problem. She led him farther into the forest and Ed could swear he saw floating lights with wings darting about. He shook his head as Petra led him through fallen log tunnels (giant fallen logs) and to a tree that seemed to have had a face carved into the front. It looked like an old wrinkly man’s face.

   “Ok, so now what?” Ed said.

   “Great Deku Tree, I’ve made it back and the man who saved me was a Hylian!” Petra said inclining her head to it.

   “It warms my heart to see you back safe and sound,” the tree’s mouth moved and Ed dropped the crystal heart in shock.

   “What the-.”

   “Ah, an alchemist, I presume?” it said.

   “F-former,” Ed said, “Who bound you to a tree?”

   “No one. I am simply a sentient tree,” the Great Deku Tree said. Ed walked around the tree examining it and he even had his notebook out jotting down observations.

 

   “How did a tree evolve sentience?” Ed said.

   “The Goddesses willed it to be,” The Great Deku Tree said. Was that amusement Ed heard? “You are not the first human to find me, though you are the first to look at me as if I were aberrant. Surely someone possessing as much magic as yourself has seen stranger things.”

   “Magic? I don’t have magic. I can’t even do alchemy,” Ed said.

   “Yes, I can sense that you lost your ability to use alchemical energy but you still have magic,” The Great Deku Tree said.

   “Prove it,” Ed said.

   “I shall give you a spell,” the Great Deku Tree said, “Hold out your blade arm.” Ed held out his right hand.

   “Invoke the Goddess of Power, “Din,” and think of heat.”

   “Din,” Ed said thinking of the heat from his recent battle with a giant spider. What Ed didn’t expect was a fireball to appear above his hand. He dropped it from shock and then had to peel off  the remains of his glove because it had also caught fire. Though, he couldn’t remember when it got ripped. The fire went out quickly and Ed stared at the Great Deku Tree.

   “How did you do that?” Ed said.

   “I didn’t. I’m merely a creature of magic, I cannot use any,” the Great Deku Tree said, “And surely you felt the energy loss from it?” Ed paused and realized he did feel a little tired, like he had just finished sparring with Al.

   “There’s no way it’s magic,” Ed said.

   “Why is that?” The Great Deku Tree said.

   “Because magic violates and bypasses the Laws and if I had this surely I’d have known sooner-.”

   “No, I’m afraid not. While the Deathless Thing reigned, there was a sort of energy barrier in the ground, and it blocked and suppressed magic. The Kokiri barely survived such a deprivation. It was through my roots and the vast magic I had stored within me that I kept my forest children alive,” The Great Deku Tree, “If you learned alchemy from a young age, you would have learned to draw from the ground and not from within; you would never have learned of the reservoir of power within you.”

   “How does an instance of pyrokinesis prove anything?” Ed said.

   “Shall I teach you a spell that cannot be explained away by science?” The Great Deku tree said.

   “Nothing you show me is unexplainable by science,” Ed said.

   “Except how it’s possible for you to perform without the ability to use alchemical energy,” The Great Deku Tree said.

   “I’ll figure that out whenever I’m not in some bizarre nightmare where a former colleague of mine isn’t possessed by some wannabe spaceman with skewed fashion sense and bipolar disorder creating monsters that explode into black smoke with some strange energy while a talking tree expects me to believe is magic!” Ed said. It was only then that Petra saw the back of Ed’s right hand..

   “GREAT DEKU TREE!” she said tugging Ed’s hand forewords and showing the wise plant the symbol.

   “Hey!”

   “So, it’s time again,” the Great Deku Tree said, “You have returned.”

   “What do you mean by that?” Ed said pulling his hand free of Petra’s grip.

   “Go back to the realm of the Deathless Thing, and you will find Ghirahim at work again,” the Great Deku Tree said.

   “Hate to break it to you, but the “Deathless Thing’s” lair was trashed by yours truly and a team of others trying to stop it,” Ed said.

   “Surely they couldn’t have destroyed everything in two years,” the Great Deku Tree said. Ed paused and shook his head.

   “Besides, who the hell is “Ghirahim?””

   “It is the name of the being possessing the body of that poor man,” the Great Deku Tree said.

   “You trying to tell me that the nut possessing that man is called “Ghirahim?”” Ed said.

   “Yes. Though he has lain dormant for over a thousand years, the recent defeat of the Deathless Thing has both weakened and awakened him,” The Great Deku Tree said.

   “I’ve got to go to Central anyway and not just because a talking tree said to,” Ed said before he walked off.

   “Has a Hero ever been this resistant to the truth before?” Petra asked once she was sure Ed was out of even Hylian earshot.

   “No. Yet, I can sense that this incarnation of the Hero has already been through a lot. It sounds like he helped take down the Deathless Thing before he was even called by the Goddesses,” the Great Deku Tree said, “Go with him, and don’t forget to grab that grimoire Madame Hazel left here half a century ago. It may come in handy.”

   “Yes, Great Deku Tree,” Petra said bowing her head to it before she dashed off. A yellow ball of light fluttered by the tree.

   “Should I go with her, sir? She is my bonded,” the fairy said.

   “Of course, Windy,” the Greek Deku Tree said.

 

   Ed was lost. He kicked at a mushroom cap before he tried to find his way out.

   “Thanks for waiting!” He turned to see the Kokiri was back and this time she had a bobbing ball of light following her and she was wearing a pack.

   “This is Windy, she’s my fairy partner. Windy this is Ed, he saved my life,” Petra said.

   “Nice to meet you!” the ball of light said. Ed’s eye twitched and Petra could hear him mumbling under his breath,

   “Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen…”

   Kakaro Village, Dawn the next day.

   Ed trudged into town, Petra still on his heals, and only reciting the periodic table had kept him from going berserk.

   “So, you made it back alive, goro,” Ed saw that Darun had been waiting for him.

   “How much for the sword?” Ed said.

   “Tell me the tale of your recent adventure and I’ll count it even, goro,” Darun said, “Oh, I see you’ve picked up a tagalong, goro.”

   “I’m Petra and this is Windy,” Petra said and pointed to her fairy. Windy bobbed in place whenever she was introduced, a sort of fairy curtsey.

 

   “….So, I followed her to crazy talking tree who told me the flamboyant weirdo was called Ghirahim and he was likely in Central,” Ed said.

   “I see. Well, a deal is a deal, goro,” Darun said, “I wish you luck with your quest.”

   “Edward Elric?” Ed looked up to see it was the Sheriff. He could tell because the woman wore the uniform and the badge that read “sheriff” on it.

   “Yeah, Sheriff?” Ed said.

   “A man called asking after you yesterday,” she said, “Please come with me so I can call him and let him know you’re not dead.”

   “Was it a military officer?” Ed said.

   “Yes,” the Sheriff said.

   “Stinking bastard,” Ed grumbled as he followed her down the street to the small sheriff’s station and walked in. She motioned him to sit at chair in front of he desk. It was only then, after catching his reflection in a window that Ed realized how bedraggled he looked. His hair was a mess, some of it was falling out of his pony tail. He had only one glove on, his jacket was covered in soot, mud, blood, and monster goo. His pants were in a similar state, and his auto mail was visible through the tears, and he was wearing a battle stained sword and shield.

   “He’s back, and he’s alive. Oh? He’s right here. Mr. Elric, General Mustang wants to speak with you,” the Sheriff said.

   “What do you want Bastard?” Ed said.

   “So, you’re alright. Was it an alchemist?” Mustang said.

   “Yes and no. I’ll tell you whenever I get to Central,” Ed said, “I took out several creations in that abandoned temple and received intel he’s likely been using a place in Central as another staging area.”

   “Anything else?”

   “I’ve picked up a shadow in the form of a kokiri and her fairy,” Ed said.

   “Are you drunk?” Mustang said.

   “No. Just ask the Sheriff,” Ed said handing the phone back to her. Petra, who had been studying the coatrack in the corner with Windy looked up whenever the Sheriff began to speak.    

   “He’s not crazy. I’m looking right at her and her companion,” the Sheriff said, “I see. Thank you.” She hung up her phone and looked at Ed.

   “General Mustang said that you’re to bring her with you, but she’s not to enter the office with you whenever you speak with him,” the Sheriff said, “He also said to drop the incredulous act because a kokiri and a fairy are certainly not the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Petra-Looks like Tip from Home with pointy Kokiri ears. Petra comes from the same root as the name Peter, “petros.”  
> I’ve added her to the story because, as of late, the trend is to have the Hero have a sidekick. I decided to go with a cute one and not a pretty one.
> 
> Windy- Named to sound like “Wendy.” It’s also part of another joke I’ve made with this chapter. Petra-Rock/Earth, Windy/Wind, and Din’s Fire….yeah I know LAME.
> 
> Peter Pan the Play- in England in that relative time period, _Peter Pan_ would have been a stage play since JM Barry published it in 1914.


	5. You’ve got to be joking!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed heads to Central to seek information on where his new enemy will strike next.  
> Petra has her first trip on a train, ever.

   “What’s that?”

   “A telegraph wire.”

   “And that?”

   “A telephone wire.”

   “Ok, what about that?”

   “It’s a train-trestle bridge, for trains, like the one we’re in, to cross over gaps.”

   “What’s-.”

   “Have you never been out of a forest before?!” Ed said. Petra sat back and blinked at him. Petra gave him a huge smile.

   “Of course I have! Which is why I have absolutely no idea what those objects are!” she said before she slumped back with a huff and crossed her arms over her leaf dress. Windy had been dozing near by and was startled back awake.

   “We there yet?” she said.

   “No,” Ed said. Ed looked down at his notebook and then pulled out some paper and began to write Al.

   Dear Al,

   You’d have thought after everything we went through on the Promised Day, our lives would have gone back to average? Unfortunately for me, the world has other plans. Where to start?

   From here the letter was encoded. The actual message read as such:

   “Mustang’s lead led me straight to a town that believed in old fairy tales and for some reason our race is involved with a few of these to the point where a kid made an accidentally racist assumption that I knew what the Hell he was talking about because I’m Hylian. The stories he mentioned were ones where if trouble grips the land, a Hylian will arrive and save the day. I know I sort of fit that pattern whenever I was still the “Alchemist of the People” but it had nothing to do with being Hylian!

    I met members of a supposedly extinct race, there are still some Gorons left in the world, apparently, and it was from an older one that I received an actual actionable lead. I followed a younger goron to an abandoned temple and it was like that dead-end Mustang sent us on about four years ago. Trying to pick the lock ended up with a secondary defense system being triggered somehow, so I had to hunt for the key. On the upside, I found a kick-ass shield to use as I faced a bunch of disfigured animals via some strange energy. The locals would have me calling it magic, but I wasn’t able to restrain and interrogate the culprit.

   Somehow, someone found a way to soul bind themselves into someone else’s body. Remember the Moonstone Alchemist? Someone took over his body and they’re using him to do these twisted things.

   He managed to use whatever it was to distort and create a gigantic spider monster. I barely defeated it, but something weird happened. The little girl I rescued claimed it was magic. She also claimed to be 400 years old. All I can verify is that she is a Kokiri and she has a glowing ball of light that talks that she claims is  fairy. Al, I was cornered by the spider-creature whenever fire came out of nowhere and burned it. I also met with a talking sentient Tree that also claimed what I was doing was magic and that the guy who took over the alchemist was something called a “Ghirahim” and it was likely in Central in the realm of the “Deathless Thing.” I think I sort of like that name for the homunculi. I don’t know what’s going on with the country or with me.

   I’ll keep you posted on what the hell is happening to Amestris.

   Keep your eyes open and be careful.

   -Ed

   “Who’re you writing?” Petra said.

   “My younger brother, Al,” Ed said as he folded up the letter and tucked it next to the other.

   “How old is he?” Petra said.

   “Seventeen,” Ed said.

   “How old are you?” Petra said.

   “Eighteen,” Ed said.

   “So, why do you have gold eyes?” Petra said.

   “I inherited them from my father,” Ed said.

   “They’re really cool! I thought only Gerudo had yellow-y eyes, but I guess there probably aren’t gerudo anymore?” Petra said.

   “I honestly don’t know. A day ago, I’d have said that Gorons and Kokiri were extinct,” Ed said.

   “True. So, did your dad get his eyes from his father?” Petra said.

   “Probably,” Ed said, “Why?”

   “Because I met a guy with eyes like yours once. Well, less met him and more I saw him whenever the last Queen met with him,” Petra said.

   “What was his name?” Ed said.

   “Van Hoenheim,” Petra said.

   “That was my father,” Ed said.

   “But-oh. Oh! That’s what her majesty meant,” Petra said, “Is he still around?”

   “No. He died two years ago,” Ed said.

   “Oh.” They sat in silence for a good two hours as Ed wrote in his notebook.

   “What’re you writing now?” Petra said.

   “My research notes about what I’ve seen so far,” Ed said as he continued to write.

   “Can I see them?” Petra said.

   “You could, but they’re encoded,” Ed said.

   “Why do that?” Petra said.

   “You don’t know what a telephone wire is but you know about encryption?” Ed said.

   “Sometimes the Greak Deku Tree would say one thing but it meant another for older Kokiri like me. We were taught his code words so that the younger ones wouldn’t be frightened,” Petra said, “So why would you encrypt your notes?”    

“Because, sometimes what I find is dangerous in the wrong hands,” Ed said.

   “This reads like you’re only talking about your travels and it doesn’t even mention the Forest Temple!” Petra said after she looked at part of his notes.

   “It’s supposed to look that way to anyone who isn’t me,” Ed said.

   “So, your brother can’t even read it?” Petra said.

   “Nope! He’s tried for years to crack it and can’t,” Ed said gently closing the notebook.

   “It didn’t look like you have many notes,” Petra said.

   “It’s a new notebook. My original notebook from before is at home with my fiancée,” Ed said.

   “You already have a fiancée?” Petra said.

   “Yeah, Winry. She’s an automail mechanic,” Ed said.

   “What’s automail?” Petra said.

   “They’re prosthetic limbs that are connected to nerves and can move like a real limb,” Ed said, “Usually made out of steel but other metals are being experimented with.”

   “That’s so cool. She can help people walk and do other things again!” Petra said. Ed smiled,

   “She sure can.” Ed looked out the window.

   “So, is that why your left leg is different?” Petra said.

   “Oh, so you noticed that,” Ed said.

   “Hard not to whenever ghoma ripped into your leg in a way that should have required stitches or red potion,” Petra.  Ed rolled up the pant leg a little to show her part of the shin.

   “So, this thing moves like a real leg? Can it feel?” Petra said.

   “No, afraid not, maybe someday,” Ed said rolling the pant leg back down.

   “Is she a Hylian too?” Petra said.

   “Yeah, actually she is. That’s not why I asked her to m-marry me, though,” Ed said.  Petra laughed and Ed blushed.

   Central Station,

   First Lieutenant Arlo Wilhelm was nervous. He was instructed by a general to pick up a man from the station. Not just any General, but Brigadier General Mustang, the Flame Alchemist, Hero of Ishval, and Hero of the Spring Coup, and not just any man but a living legend: retired Major Edward Elric, formerly the Fullmetal Alchemist, the Alchemist of the People, the prodigy!

   He stood at attention as he scanned the disembarking crowd. He spotted a head of golden-blonde hair and were those HYLIAN ears? Wilhelm had only seen a handful of Hylians in his whole life, Captain Hawkeye being one of them. Golden eyes focused in on him and rolled before the Hylian looked down and seemed to be speaking to someone shorter than him. Once free of the crowd, his companion was visible. She appeared to be a child of around eight wearing a dress made out of leaves, with very curly hair, and wide green eyes.

   “I take it, Mustang sent you?” the Hylian said.

   “Y-You’re Elric?” Wilhelm said.

   “Yeah,” Elric said bluntly.

   Ed had to suppress a sigh at the fidgety young officer, but they were annoying whenever he WAS part of the military and were even more-so now that he was out.

   “Nothing in what I’ve heard ever mentioned….,” the officer said trailing off, but Ed saw that the man’s eyes were drawn to Ed’s ears.

   “That’s because I used to keep them covered,” Ed said, “Let’s get going officer…”

   “First Lieutenant Arlo Wilhelm, sir!”

   “It’s just “Ed.” I’m no longer in the military,” Ed said.

   “Of course sir-Ed!” Wilhelm said.

   “What’s that?” Petra said pointing to something.

   “A trolley car.”

   Central Command,

   After another riveting round of “what’s that” with Petra, they’d arrived at their destination. Ed climbed out and waited for Petra to catch up to him as she pulled her backpack on. A angry tinkling sound let them both know that Windy was not happy about hiding. But, Ed had won out that the less times they had to explain,

   “No, you are not hallucinating. That is a fairy. No, I am not drunk nor off my medication.” the better.  It was bad enough he had to wear the sword and shield because he had no place to stash them. Ed followed Wilhelm through Central Command to where Mustang’s office was….the exact same spot it had been before. Ed had enjoyed the double takes others had to do whenever he walked past, though.

   Fuery had just gotten up to do something whenever Ed entered the office.

    “Chief! You’re back!” he said hugging Ed.

   “Yeah, please let go.” Ed said. Feury let go of Ed while Breda, who had since gotten up, punched Ed’s shoulder and Fallman nodded in his direction before resuming work. Havoc was even there, back from retirement, though still using a cane.

   “Is Mustang in?” Ed said.

   “Should be,” Havoc said.

   “Ok, Petra, stay here for now,” Ed said.

   “Fine. Hey, mister? What’s that?”

   Ed entered Mustang’s office to see Hawkeye was glaring at Mustang.

   “Am I interrupting?” Ed said.

   “Edward. Not at all. Roy here was going to promise to do ALL of his paperwork after your meeting including the forms for sending a civilian into a potentially dangerous situation,” Hawkeye said.

   “His brother went all the time and I never had to fill anything out,” Mustang said.

   “That’s because we made Edward and Alphonse fill those out,” Hawkeye said.

   “So, what happened out there?” Mustang said once Hawkeye left.

   “A whole lot of bullshit that’s what! Someone has figured out how to steal other people’s bodies and is using the Moonstone Alchemist’s body to create twisted monsters that apparently existed whenever this place was Hyrule and not Amestris with some weird dark energy that locals had the nerve to call magic!” Ed said.

   “Magic. Really? They tried to feed you that line?” Mustang said.

   “Not only did they try it, they believed it! Plus, apparently there are stories out in the boonies that Hylians coming to town after chaos starts means they’re automatically there to save the day and that’s not even the icing on the cake of this whole shit fest. There is a TALKING TREE THAT IS CONVINCED MAGIC IS REAL AND THAT I CAN USE IT!”

   “Did you hit your head?” Mustang said.

   “No. What I did do is somehow generate fire without anything flammable nearby or your nifty gloves and circle!” Ed said. He held his right hand up and thought about heat and said, “Din.” This time the fireball that appeared was smaller.

   “How did you-.”

   “Don’t you think I KNOW how impossible this is?” Ed said. Mustang clapped his hands and touched the fireball, killing it by stealing the oxygen away from it.

   “You really saw a talking tree?” Mustang said.

   “Aside from babbling about magic, he said the one who stole Bowie’s body was called “Ghirahim” and something about me having “returned” whenever I’d never seen that weird talking plant in my life,” Ed said.

   “Did the tree say Ghirahim would have fled here?” Mustang said.

   “Yeah,” Ed said.

   “Did the tree have a name?” Mustang said.

   “The Kokiri girl called it the “Great Deku Tree,”” Ed said. Mustang’s eyes widened, “You’ve heard of it?”

   “My Aunt is a follower of the three Golden Goddesses. She told me the stories of the Heroes growing up,” Mustang said.

   “So, the Tree is part of that?” Ed said.

   “It’s part of the canon for the Heroes,” Mustang said, “If it’s what you saw, and it’s real, then I would believe it when it said Ghirahim is here.”

   “Can I come in now?” Petra stuck her head around the door.

   “Is she the Kokiri?” Mustang said.

   “Yeah, I am, duh!” Petra said.

   “Can I come out?”

   “Go ahead,” Ed said. Windy zipped out of Petra’s pack and shook herself before hovering above Petra’s right shoulder. Mustang took the appearance of the fairy in stride.

   “Ed really met the Great Deku Tree?” Mustang said.

   “He did. How is it you know of this stuff and he doesn’t?” Petra said.

   “I was raised with the stories of Hyrule,” Mustang said.

   “Good to see at least somebody had a proper upbringing-.”

   “My upbringing was just fine!” Ed said.

   “So, where would the lair of the Deathless Things be?” Petra said.

   “Deathless thing?” Mustang said.

   “It’s what she and that tree call the Homunculi,” Ed said.

   “It said he went there?” Mustang said.

   “Yes.”

   “You’re not going down there alone,” Mustang said standing.

   “You can’t just leave, sir.” Ed turned to see Hawkeye in the doorway.

   “I can’t let Elric go alone! He’s technically a civilian now!” Mustang said.

   “EDWARD ELRIC! IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN! YOU HAVE GROWN MUCH IN THE LAST TWO YEARS AND YOU HAVE STOPPED COVERING UP YOUR EARS!”

   “Good to see you too, Major Armstrong,” Ed said.

   “I have been proudly promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel! Keeping with the military excellence that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!” Armstrong said.

   “You’re really an Armstrong?” Petra said looking up at the large Hylian.

   “Indeed I am! I see you are a Kokiri!” Armstrong said.

   “How is it everyone seems to know about this stuff?” Ed said.

   “For the Armstrong family, the tales have been passed down for generations!” Armstrong said.

   “Didn’t your mother tell you any stories?” Petra said.

   “A few but they were all about a guy who turned into a wolf  to save his friends, family and country from some evil guy whose name sounds like someone was choking whenever they said the word “cannon.” What?” Ed said. The others in the room all looked fairly scandalized and Ed was confused,

   “Was it something I said?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arlo Wilhelm-is named after two kids I knew growing up. Neither of them are military.
> 
> Why did I include Armstrong-  I have to admit, I think he’s very fun to write. Whenever I was talking about this idea to my best friend, I made a joke about Ed and Al being revealed as Hylians and whenever I made other characters Hylians I HAD to make the Armstrong line one too for a few reasons but first and foremost was this,
> 
>    "THE EARS THAT HEAR THE GODS HAVE BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS!"
> 
>  
> 
> Madame Christmas AKA Chris Mustang as a follower of the Golden Goddesses- She reminds me a Telma in a lot of ways. I chose not to make her and Roy Hylians because I’d already made the Elric brothers, the Rockbells, Hawkeye (and by extension Grumman), and the entire Armstrong clan Hylian. Therefore, one of the other ways to have preserved the culture, stories, and history of Hyrule was through religion.
> 
>    Madame Christmas is not a devout saint (no offense meant because I like her character). She enjoyed telling the stories to her nephew because he seemed to absorb them like a sponge and he needed something to latch onto.
> 
>     The tales of the more idealized Hyrule were very instrumental in shaping a younger, more idealistic Roy Mustang. She only prays whenever there was something she felt needed praying for. Like, say, the outcome of the Promised Day.
> 
>  
> 
> In that same vein, Mustang is NOT a follower of the Golden-Goddesses- It just wouldn’t fit with him. He believes in restoring Hyrule, and he even believes in the fact that some weird shit used to happen because there is still some evidence here and there of it, but Mustang never struck me as the religious type.
> 
>  
> 
> Why I chose that Trisha would tell them the story of Twilight Princess-it was the first Zelda game I ever managed to beat. I’d have gone with Skyward Sword but with the fact it’s the legend of the First reincarnated hero, I concluded that much of the knowledge about that tale was lost. Knowledge about Ghirahim would survive because people had to know where he was sealed and to stay the hell away and why to stay the hell away, but the rest would be mostly lost.
> 
>  
> 
> Ed’s comment about the guy whose name sounds like someone choked while  saying  “cannon”-  “Ganondorf “does sound a little like a sound someone could make while choking and coughing. Ed’s bluntness in the delivery of the  butchering of the name of the worst adversary Hyrule ever faced would be met with shock by those who knew the stories and feared him.


	6. Underground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While exploring the remains of Father's Lair, Ed and his companions encounter some very unwelcome surprises.

   “Once things stabilized, the combined forces of Amestris were utilized to try to reclaim the subterranean lair of the Homunculus called “Father” much of it was filled in. There remain a few areas as a reminder to our nation for generations to come,” Lt. Colonel Armstrong said as he led Ed, Petra, and Windy through a few brightly lit corridors, which branched off from Lab 3. There remained but a single path to and from the “throne” room and whenever they arrived, they saw that the room had been stripped of the pipes and equipment, alchemical handiwork was seen here and there in the utter annihilation of the pipe-system. In the middle of the wreckage was “Ghirahim” and he was digging through it.

   “Not even a drop!” he said. He looked up and saw he had company. He laughed until he saw Ed.

   “YOU DARE SHOW YOUR FACE AGAIN!” Ed glared.

   “Last I checked, you’re the one who’s trespassing!” Ed said drawing his sword.

   “This is Ghirahim?” Armstrong said.

   “He’s possessing that body somehow,” Ed said, “I have no idea if it’s even possible to save the guy whose life he took over.”

   “I cannot let this stand! I shall show him the power passed down the Armstrong line!” And with that Lt. Colonel Armstrong was shirtless and sparkling.

   “Does he do that often?” Petra said.

   “Often enough,” Ed said as he slipped the shield over his left arm.

   “Those sparkles aren’t magic,” Windy said shaking them off.

   “They’re not alchemy either,” Ed said.

   “Well, this is simply not fair! Three on one! I’ll have to even the odds!” Ghirahim snapped his fingers and a blast of black smoke later, a mega sized chimera appeared.

   “I’ll take him, you take on mega chimera!” Ed said as Ghirahim summoned a blade.

   “What about me?” Petra said.

   “Support Armstrong! He’s a physical fighter!” Ed said before he blocked Ghirahim with his shield and they began to clash.

   “Mr. Armstrong! I have three Deku seeds!” Petra said, “If you can hold on for me to get up high, I can use my slingshot to stun it!”

   “I can more than handle it!” Lt. Colonel Armstrong said. Petra nodded before she and Windy exchanged looks and began to climb up the wall to get a better vantage point.

 

   Ed vs Ghirahim.

The angry body-snatcher had upped the game by summoning a bunch of floating daggers that appeared in different shapes. It was only after failing to block most of them with his shield, that Ed figured he’d better try to dodge the damn things and it was getting old. Ed would try to get close and aim for that weird belt buckle, which seemed to have been the weirdo’s weak spot last time, but would instead have to block, dodge, those daggers and begin the process all over again.

 

Lt. Colonel Armstrong vs Mega-Chimera, the Dark Magic Abomination

   The giant beast swatted away the stone formations Armstrong made as if they were made of paper. It was all he could do to keep away from the massive thing’s claws.

   “READY!” something struck it and froze the chimera in place., mouth open in a snarl. Armstrong acted upon the opportunity and a spike impaled it through the head. The thing screamed its last before it collapsed into a plume of smoke leaving behind the mangled corpse of a much smaller lion-lizard based chimera.

 

Ed vs Ghirahim

Ed cursed whenever Ghirahim made the circle of projectiles surround him. He gripped his sword and focused on trying to dodge as many as possible while deflecting a couple. Before he knew what he was doing he had spun and a wave of energy sent the blades off in multiple directions, but away from him.

   ‘What the hell?’ Ed thought. He didn’t get time to dwell on it because Ghirahim had decided to engage him in close combat again. His adversary snapped his fingered and a barrier sprung up between himself, Ed, and Armstrong.

   “Can’t have that, now can we?” Ghirahim said. Ed was distracted long enough by the glowing barrier to take a nasty hit to his left leg.

   Ed’s first thought was,

   ‘Winry’s going to kill me!’ The next was ‘Shit!’ Ed blocked a few blows as best he could, biting back a hiss of pain whenever a glancing blow nailed his right hand, destroying the glove. Two more blows knocked his sword and shield from his hands.

   “ED! FOCUS ON THE EARTH MOVING AND YELL “ELDIN!”” Petra yelled through the barrier.

   Half on instinct Ed clapped his hands together and slammed them down focusing on the earth moving,

   “ELDIN!” with golden light, a stone fist burst out of the ground and slammed into Ghirahim, launching him into the far wall. Unlike Ed’s previous, alchemy based creations, this one was flawless and lacked the tell-tale marks of being created.

   “That was a neat trick,” Ghirahim said standing and wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.

   “Come close and I’ll show you exactly how many tricks I can use!” Ed said. Ed was barely keeping his footing both due to the damage to his prosthetic and battle damage.

   “I suppose I’ll just have to go say “hello” to Hylia, now won’t I?” Ghirahim said before he vanished. Ed couldn’t keep upright anymore and collapsed forwards. The barrier dropped and Armstrong rushed to Ed’s side. He checked Ed’s pulse and sighed in relief, some tears coursing down his face,

   “He’s still alive!”

   “For someone who doesn’t believe he can use magic, he’s pretty good at it,” Petra said.

   “Edward possesses the divine gift?” Lt. Colonel Armstrong said.

   “More than that, sir,” Petra said holding up Ed’s right hand. It had stopped bleeding and the triforce mark was clear through the rip.

   “WHAT A GLORIOUS THING THAT I SHOULD LIVE TO KNOW A HERO!” Lt. Colonel Armstrong said and he was weeping tears of joy.

   “If you take him over to that container, the energy should help to restore his magical core and help it grow, or it did last time, I think,” Petra said pointing to the floating heart over where the mega chimera had been. Armstrong carried Ed over to the heart container and made one of Ed’s hands brush against it. The wounds he’d sustained from battle vanished, though his leg was still destroyed. The container fell to the ground with a “tink” sound, ordinary crystal. Petra grabbed the crystallized magic and held it up to the light,

   “So pretty!” Petra said.

   “Indeed,” Lt. Colonel Armstrong said, suddenly serious, “But I fear we haven’t seen the last of that foul creature. I fear I know where he will strike next if he indeed intends to go after an incarnation of the White Goddess.”

   “Is she in danger?”

   “No, but we may not get to find out how he took over that poor soul’s body if we don’t get there in time nor will there be any chance at saving Major Bowie at all!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mea Maxmia Culpa! Sorry I haven't updated in over three months.  
> To make up for that I'll be posting the three missing chapters back-to-back.
> 
> **Crystallized Magic** \- That’s my theory about heart containers and I’m sticking to it!  
>     I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that I’ve been trying to ground the game logic of things exploding with some real logic, because the world of FMA is full of scientists.  
> Can’t make something from nothing and by the same token, something just doesn’t randomly become nothing.  
> Law of Conservation of Mass, anyone? AKA Equivalent Exchange?


	7. Who do you think you are?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Chance encounter sets things in motion.  
> Ghirahim makes good on his threat to pay a visit to the descendants of Hylia.  
> Meanwhile, it is time to let Ed in on his fate.

With aid of Armstrong’s alchemy, after pausing to stop and grab Ed’s sword and shield, they emerged from the Underground lair to find everything was calm. Armstrong carefully set Ed down behind a dumpster to hide him from sight. Set next to him were his weapons.

   “I will call someone to pick him up,” Armstrong said, “I must stop my sister from destroying Ghirahim’s host body outright.”

   “Ok!” Petra said, “I’ll stay right here and protect him!” Armstrong nodded before he left. Windy bobbed before she turned to face Petra,

   “I’m going to go with him and lead whoever he calls to you,” Windy said.

   “Be careful!” Petra said. Windy bobbed and jingled before she flew after Armstrong.

    Petra was quickly bored. She heard footsteps and looked up to see it was an older, blue-eyed, scholarly looking man wearing blue robes with a triforce insignia on the collar. This meant he was a Priest of Nayru. He spotted Petra and stopped in front of her.

   “What brings a Forest Child so far from her woodland homes?” he said.

   “I was given a mission by the Great Deku Tree to follow him,” Petra said pointing to the unconscious Ed.

   “A blasphemous alchemist? Why?” the Priest of Nayru said.

   “Because, the Deku Tree told me to!” Petra said, “And he’s not an alchemist anymore!”

   “Did he repent?”

   “No. He-.”

   “Petra! They’re here!” Windy arrived with Hawkeye and Breda in tow.

   “How is he?” Hawkeye said.

   “He overexerted himself, and his metal leg is busted,” Petra said, “But I think he’s ok otherwise.”

   “Where did you get that?” Breda said pointing to the crystal heart on the ground.

   “Oh, the excess magic crystallized after Sir Armstrong defeated a magically enhanced monster!” Petra said.

   “An Armstrong!?!” the Priest said.

   “The Strong Arm Alchemist.” Everyone turned their heads to see Ed was awake and his eyes were fixed on the Priest.

   “Hey, Chief, can you stand?” Breda said.

   “If you support me,” Ed said, “My leg is completely destroyed. Winry’s going to murder me.” Breda offered a hand to Ed, and Ed took it with his left hand and stood on his flesh leg and leaned into Breda, his right hand hanging at his side.

   “So, why would the Armstrong family, a family KNOWN for their “blasphemous” alchemy, and proud of it, mean anything to you?” Ed said. The Priest’s face turned a puce color but before he could answer, he saw Ed’s exposed right hand, or in particular, the exposed triforce on the back of his right hand and that puce color vanished and was replaced by a grayish-green color.

   “Let’s go,” Hawkeye said, “We don’t need him antagonizing another church’s leaders.”

   “Hey! That last time was completely justified!” Ed said as they left. Petra awkwardly carried the sword and shield, and stopped to look up at the Priest of Nayru.

   “That’s why the Great Deku Tree has me following him,” she said before she jogged to catch up to the others.

* * *

**_The Armstrong mansion_ **

   “KYAAAAA!!!!!!!!”

Olivier arrived to see her youngest sister had thrown her wardrobe at some oddly dressed weirdo who was in her room.

   “Oh ho~ow SPIRITED this one is!” Griahim said whenever the young blonde Hylian girl threw that simply massive wardrobe at his head. How she resembled the others.* Of all the Hylia incarnations he’d seen, she was going to be one with spunk. Except, whenever he tried to get close to her, an aura of power drew his attention to turn his head just in time to barely dodge a sword through the neck. He jumped away and evaluated the older blonde Hylian woman. The resemblance was there meaning this was the girl’s sister. Oh, how her aura shone.

   “What the Hell are you?” she said aiming her sword at him.

   “Oh~ something only slightly more interesting than you, your Highness,” he said.

   Olivier stiffened.

   “You will take that back,” she growled.

   “Oh~ have I struck a nerve, Your Grace? Such bad manners for a lady,” he said. Oliver saw red.

   “I’m afraid I’m going to have to sully this blade that has been in our family for generations with your blood,” Olivier said narrowing her eyes before she charged.

   Ghirahim summoned his usual sword and met her blade in clash of sparks. Olivier pressed the attack again before they broke apart and met in another clash, this time, Olivier nearly nailed him in the side. She analyzed his fighting and his guard and began to viciously attack his right right, towards the diamond on his belt. The other bits of damage that had apparently done by a sword were her big indicator that this was the place to strike. Ghirahim was forced to draw his true form to prevent the woman from destroying his anchor. He also summoned blades to attack her as they continued to duel. Only one volley managed to scratch her on the face, while she dodged the rest. This time a more complex set of blades appeared as they fought.

   Olivier made note of where the blades were and in the middle of pressing the attack on Ghirahim she managed to grab him and spin him making him take the brunt of his own blades. She flung him into the wall with the momentum and charged. Ghirahim raised a hand and snapped his fingers before she could land another strike. He appeared on the other side of her, worse for wear, and PISSED.

   “HOW DARE YOU~!”

   Oliver was not even fazed as she re-engaged the dual wielder. Ghirahim was losing ground against her, taking more strikes than was safe to his anchor. He barely broke away and teleported to the far side of the room.

   “What are you!” Ghirahim said.

   “The North Wall of Briggs.” Olivier said before she charged at him. He vanished again. He didn’t reappear, but Olivier didn’t stand down until she was certain he wouldn’t return. She sheathed her sword and walked over to Catherine, who had picked up a statue in case he would try to go after her again.

   “Are you alright?” Olivier said.

   “I’m fine, Olivier,” Catharine said putting the statue down with a ‘THUD.’

   “We have to speak with Mustang. I don’t know why, but I think he’s behind this,” Olivier said. She heard the doors slam open and in came Lt. Colonel Armstrong, sans shirt.

   “SISTER! I-.” Lt. Colonel Armstrong looked at the damage before Olivier shot him a cold glare.

   “Explain. Now.”

* * *

   Ed, Hawkeye, and Breda arrived at Central Command at the same time as a shirtless, and somewhat battered Lt. Colonel Armstrong, his sister Catherine, and his elder sister General Armstrong. The group stopped, forcing Ed to lean on a wall to keep from falling.

   “What happened to you?” Ed said looking at Catherine’s somewhat mussed look.

   “Some insane moron decided to attack our home and try to attempt to kidnap my sister, Elric,” General Armstrong said, “Care to explain why he thought my sister was the incarnation of Hylia?”

   “I don’t know why, all I do know is he’s possessing the body of the Moonstone Alchemist and he wants me dead,” Ed said clenching his right hand. Olivier saw the triforce on his hand and roughly grabbed his hand, yanking him forward as she examined the mark.

   “How long have you had this?” Olivier said.

   “Since I was a kid,” Ed said trying to yank his hand free: Olivier’s grip was painful.

   “Alex, did you know?” Olivier said, her tone calm but implied death wasn’t too far.

   “You never let me explain, Sister,” Lt. Colonel Armstrong said.

   “Explain what?” Ed said. Olivier actually let go of Ed’s hand this time, causing the ex-alchemist fall on his ass. He rubbed his wrist as Lt. Colonel Armstrong, Catharine, Olivier, and Roy gave Ed looks. Olivier’s implied Ed was an idiot. Catherine and Lt. Colonel Armstrong’s were of shock. Petra sighed and stepped forward.

   “Remember the story your mother told you, about the Hero who saved his land by becoming a wolf? That Hero is one of many in the canon of Hyrule’s past. The Hero and the Princess are reborn in every generation whenever Hyrule’s need is greatest,” Petra said.

    “Nice story but what’s that got to do with anything!” Ed said.

   “Every time since the Imprisoning War,** the Hero has been born with a particular mark on the back of his right hand. A mark that indicates he has been blessed by the goddesses and chosen to wield, and represents, a piece of their golden power. He is also always a Hylian, usually blond but sometimes not. Reincarnated at a time whenever he is needed most to defend his land from being destroyed by darkness. That Hero, Ed, is you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I know that Catherine doesn’t really look like Zelda, but stay with me!  
> **Imprisoning War-AKA Ocarina of Time.  
> I had to cut off the fight of Olivier vs Ghirahim because she’d have killed him had I let it drag on. I still need him.


	8. I Was Born at Night but not Last Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed is told that he is a reincarnated hero.  
> He does not take this well.
> 
> After all, Ed has already learned the hard way that people do not come back from the dead.

_**Previously on Return of Hyrule: Act One** _  
_“Nice story but what’s that got to do with anything!” Ed said._  
_“Every time since the Imprisoning War, the Hero has been born with a particular mark on the back of his right hand. A mark that indicates he has been blessed by the goddesses and chosen to wield, and represents, a piece of their golden power. The Hero, always a Hylian, is reincarnated to save the land. That Hero, Ed, is you.”_

* * *

 Silence reigned for a few minutes after Petra’s announcement. Ed stared at her.

   “You’re serious, aren’t you?” Ed said.

   “Of course I am!” Petra said. Ed’s face hardened. His eyes went cold.

   “The Dead stay Dead,” Ed said.

   “But-.”

   “The Dead. Stay. Dead.” Ed said, his left hand gripping his left leg, just above the automail port.

   “Edward, now is not the time to be obstinate,” Lt. Colonel Armstrong said.

   “I’ve suffered too much learning that lesson to just accept this bullshit!” Ed said slamming his right hand against the ground.

   “Edward! That’s enough!” Mustang said.

   “When did you get here, Bastard?” Ed said.

   “Just now. Here,” Mustang said handing Ed a crutch, “I’d have been here sooner, but I stopped by the infirmary to pick up a crutch.” Ed got up and began to limp away from the group.

   “Stop right there, Elric,” Olivier said.

   “Don’t tell me you buy into this too, General?” Ed said as he stopped and threw a withering look over his shoulder.

   “Why wouldn’t I? The evidence is right on your hand,” Olivier said, “We Armstrong’s have maintained the stories of Old Hyrule for too many generations.”

   “Stories are just that!” Ed said.

   “You of all people, Edward Elric, should know better than most that that’s not always true,” Lt. Colonel Armstrong said. Ed’s right hand clenched.

   “Me of all people,” Ed said, “I guess you’re right. I, of all people, know that chasing fairy tales can lead to some of them being real and some of them being impossible! Even a Philosopher’s Stone can’t bring back anyone whose soul wasn’t bound to it or bound to someone else! People don’t come back from the dead naturally! Therefore, there is no such thing as reincarnation! It goes against the flow of the world and makes no logical sense! Even if it were possible that a person’s soul was able to be reused like the Carbon Cycle it doesn’t mean you’d even have the same person or even the same species! What’s one reason why I should ignore science and logic and accept this? What’s one reason for me to forget about everything I’ve learned since I was eleven!? Can you give me one shred of evidence?”

   _ **SLAP!**_

The hit nearly sent Ed back to the floor. Olivier acted as if she hadn’t done a thing,

   “You listen here, Elric! Because it doesn’t matter if **_you_** believe it or not! There is someone who thought my sister was the reincarnation of Hylia and attacked her because  _ **they**_ think  **you** are the Hero! I don’t care if it offends your scientific sensibilities, until this situation is resolved, you are just going to have to deal with that lunatic and suck it up!” Olivier said. Ed used his right hand to hold his throbbing cheek. Lt. Colonel Armstrong looked over at his sister,

   “Our sister isn’t Hylia reborn?” Lt. Colonel Armstrong said.

   “No. Neither am I and neither are Strongine or Amue,” Olivier said as she held up her right hand and stripped off her glove to reveal her mark-free hand. Catherine held up her bare, mark-free hand as well.

   “Then who could Hylia be?” Lt. Coloenl Armstrong said.

   “Does it matter? She’s safe because if we don’t know, then neither does he!” Petra said.

   “Well, whether or not this lunatic is after the Armstrong women or not for some reason, I have to go back to Risembul,” Ed said, “I can’t fight on one leg.”

   “Risembul….OH! We need to go there anyway!” Petra said.

   “Why’s that?” Windy said.

   “We need to get the Master Sword from the shrine!” Petra said, “It would also go a long way to proving things to our Doubting Thomas here!”

   “How can a sword prove anything?” Ed said.

   “Only the Hero can wield it, so, only you will be able to draw it from the stone,” Petra said, “If we’re right, then you’ll draw it free easily. If we’re wrong it won’t move.”

   “If it doesn’t, you’ll stop with this bullshit?” Ed said.

   “I promise!” Petra said.

   “Why’d you promise that?” Windy said.

   “Because, we can’t lose!” Petra said.

* * *

  Ed managed to collect his suitcase and strap on the sword and shield to prevent Petra from having to carry it to the train station.

   “You don’t have to keep following me,” Ed said.

   “Sorry, I have my orders!” Petra said. Ed stopped off and dialed a familiar number

* * *

**_ Rockbell Automail Shop _ **

   RING-RING!

   “Rockbell Automail, Winry speaking!”

   “Hey Winry…,”

   “EDWARD ELRIC WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY AUTOMAIL THIS TIME!”

   “It wasn’t my fault!”

   “I TOLD YOU TO TAKE CARE OF IT!”

   “Ms. Rockbell, it’s Mustang. It’s my fault Edward ended up in a situation that resulted in his auto mail being destroyed.”

   “HOW THE HELL DO YOU STILL GET HIM INTO TROUBLE WHENEVER HE’S NO LONGER YOUR SUBORDINATE! I’M CHARGING THE COSTS TO THE MILITARY!”

   “That’s fair Ms. Rockbell!” Ed took the phone back.

   “I’m getting on the next train to Risembool.”

   “Fine. Edward, please tell me you’re not involved in anything dangerous?” Winry said. Ed’s silence answered for him.

   “I’ll see you tonight,” Winry said.

   “Winry….” Ed said before he hung up.

* * *

   Ed limped onto the train and pointedly ignored the stares of the people who saw Windy, floating freely and buzzing about, or his weapons, or his limp, or his ears. Lt. Colonel Armstrong sat down across from Ed, who stubbornly pulled out his notebook and began to furiously scribble in it making notes and jotting down ideas. Ed didn’t cease writing for the entire first leg of the trip, which took around an hour and a half. Whenever it came time to change trains, Ed limped along in silence. He just stared out the window for the final portion of the trip. Whenever they arrived at the Risembool station, Ed simply got up and began to limp along with his suitcase, leaving Petra and Lt. Colonel Armstrong to follow him in silence.

   Ed arrived at the edge of the driveway and the door was already open and Winry stood there glaring with a wrench in hand.

   “Mustang didn’t come with you?” she said in a “calm” voice.

   “No,” Ed said.

   “Shame,” Winry said holding her wrench tighter. Ed waited for the wrenching. It never came. Instead he was roughly dragged inside, his pants stripped, and his leg disconnected without so much as a by-your-leave.

   “What did this?”

   “There was this man who tried to kill me. He got a few lucky shots in and destroyed my leg,” Ed said.

   “Why was he trying to kill you?” Winry said,

   “Because he seems to think that this birthmark,” Ed held up his right hand, “Means something.”

   “Really? Someone tried killing you over that birthmark?” Winry said.

   “Hey! Stranger things have happened,” Ed said. Winry sighed,

   “You’re right. Your Northern leg is a bit of a loss, but your regular steel limb should be fine after I adjust the height,” Winry said as she placed a temporary prosthetic into Ed’s leg port after adjusting it to the right height.

    Ed pulled on his pants and carefully walked into the living room where Lt. Colonel Armstrong and Petra were sitting drinking tea with Pinako while Windy perched on Petra’s head, nearly hidden by her curls.

   “Hello, Edward, I was just talking with your new friends about your adventures in the West so far,” Pinako said.

   “Don’t tell me you’ve bought into that too?” Ed said as he sat down.

   “You really don’t believe, do you?” Pinako said.

   “Why would I?” Ed said.

   “You wouldn’t, not without proof,” Pinako said after a few puffs on her pipe, “Your Kokiri friend mentioned a wager on that proof. Do you know even know where the shrine is, Petra?”

   “Well….no,” Petra said, “I just know it’s around here somewhere. The last Queen, Sir Armstrong’s ancestress, sent the Ageless One with her cousin and the last Hyurlean Knights to this area to place something in the shrine.”

   “Is that why you’ve been so weird around the Armstrong’s?” Ed said.

   “Of course! They’re the descendants of Zelda, who was an incarnation of the White Goddess!” Petra said, “To treat them without respect would be against etiquette!”

   “My dear Kokiri! You need not respect us for that! We Armstrong’s have not been royalty since the last Queen was deposed,” Lt. Colonel Armstrong said.

   “So, if the Hero was supposed to be born to stop bad things from happening, where was he when Father invaded?” Ed said.

   “The Deathless Thing’s Barrier prevented the reincarnation cycle for a while. By the time Hylia was reborn, she was unable to do much because her powers were suppressed by the Barrier established by the fall of Castle Town,” Petra said, “I think your proximity to the shrine was why you were able to be reincarnated this time because the traces of that Barrier feel almost weaker out here.”

   “Oh and the fact my mother lived here had nothing to do with it?” Ed said.

   “Edward,” Pinako said. The eighteen-year-old shut up and looked away, “Were there any clues as to where this shrine would be?”

   “In a forest,” Petra said.

   “There isn’t much of that left in these parts, but there are a few patches here and there,” Pinako said before she walked over and pulled out a map of Risembool, “No one has ever reported a shrine on their property, so it’s safe to presume it’s in one of these untouched areas.”

   “I can go scout them out!” Windy said as she studied the map, “Where are we?” Pinako pointed to a spot on the map.

   “Ok! I’ll be back, I’ll let you know if I find it!” Windy said before she zoomed towards a window.

   “Wait!” _**SLAM!**_ The Fairy unsteadily flew backwards as Pinako lifted up the window the fairy had just crashed into.

   “Ok, see you later!” Windy said.

   “ **Be careful**!” Petra yelled.

   “Well, I suppose I’d better find places for everyone to stay,” Pinako said tapping her pipe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Ed angry and it’s NOT a short rant-** easy to channel, hard to write  
>  **Olivier-** hard to get a handle on period.  
>  **None of the Armstrong’s have a piece of the triforce-** I made them descendants of Zelda. No more. No less. As such, some of them have the potential for magical abilities, like Olivier’s battle aura. Alex has no magic. Catherine has a little.  
>  **Pinako-** She knew Hoenheim. Believing in the fact her future Grandson-in-law is the reincarnation of an ancient hero is no where near as bizarre as knowing a living Philosopher’s Stone.  
>  **Winry didn’t wrench Ed-** Because she blames Mustang for this time. Ed breaks his leg AGAIN, he’s in trouble.  
>  **Only the Hero can Wield the Master Sword** \- It is that way in the games


End file.
